7.31.26 Recent Islamist attacks, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and listener comments

**Myrna Brown** (0:05)
Good morning. Today on Culture Friday, Germany and the revealing language of outrage, why Islamist attacks are treated differently, based on the target.

**Nick Iker** (0:15)
And a classroom project aimed at young children shows the battle over gender ideology is not going anywhere. John Stonestreet is standing by. Also today, Marvel's most popular superhero returns for another adventure.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:29)
I'm not just Peter Parther.

**John Stonestreet** (0:32)
I'm Spider-Man.

**Nick Iker** (0:33)
WORLD's Collin Garbarino reviews Spider-Man, Brand New Day. And listener feedback for July.

**Myrna Brown** (0:46)
It's Friday, July 31st. This is The World and Everything In It, from listener-supported World Radio. I'm Erna Brown.

**Nick Iker** (0:53)
And I'm Nick Iker. Good morning.

**Myrna Brown** (0:58)
Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

**Kent Covington** (1:01)
Iran fired back at two American allies on Thursday. An airstrike hit a building in Kuwait, killing a worker. And Jordan shot down five incoming missiles. The Iranian strikes come after US forces carried out a two-hour assault on Iran Wednesday night, which was in response to an earlier Iranian attack.
US. Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:21)
President Trump continues to hold all the cards, would love a diplomatic solution to this, but we are going to always be coming from a position of strength, and any attempt to attack the United States is going to be met with overwhelming force.

**Kent Covington** (1:34)
Central Command says the US hit dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets, including the coastal radars and missile batteries that Iran uses to control the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait normally carries a fifth of the world's oil, but traffic there has slowed dramatically since Iran resumed its attacks on commercial ships. Drones also set fire to a gas ship and an Egyptian port, and the fire spread to a second vessel. Nobody has claimed responsibility for that attack. Egypt is a US ally.
The acting US. Attorney General will have to wait a little longer for Senate confirmation as President Trump considers punting until after the first of the year. World's Harrison Waters has more now from the nation's capital.

**Harrison Waters** (2:16)
Todd Blanch is hoping to have the acting label removed from his title, but the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed Thursday's scheduled meeting to vote on his nomination. Two Republicans on the panel, Tom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, continue to withhold support. They're demanding that the Justice Department confirm in writing that it will not revive a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for alleged victims of Biden-era political targeting. The president on Thursday said he might withdraw Blanch's nomination until after Tillis and Cornyn are out of office. Cornyn was defeated in his GOP primary by a Trump-backed rival. And Tillis chose not to run for re-election after Trump threatened to back an opponent.
Their replacements will take their seats in January.
Reporting for WORLD, I'm Harrison Waters in Washington.

**Kent Covington** (3:06)
A Georgia judge handed down his sentence Thursday to a man who gave his son the gun that he later used in a deadly high school shooting. Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Prem told 55-year-old Collin Gray, The loss here is profound.

**SPEAKER_8** (3:23)
But I still have to distinguish your acts from the malignant heart and the acts that Colt Gray committed upon the Appalachee School.

**Kent Covington** (3:34)
The judge sentenced his son, 16-year-old Colt Gray, to life without parole two days earlier. Prem sentenced Collin Gray to 15 years behind bars, even though prosecutors had requested 80, he explained.

**SPEAKER_8** (3:47)
It matters that you didn't intentionally commit a crime.
It matters that you didn't plan an attack. It matters that you didn't seek to harm anyone. It matters that you didn't pull a trigger.

**Kent Covington** (3:59)
Colt Gray used the gun his father gave him as a Christmas gift to kill two students and two teachers at Appalachee High School in 2024
The US economy grew at a sluggish pace in the second quarter with inflation still stubbornly elevated. WORLD's Benjamin Eicher has that story.

**Benjamin Eicher** (4:17)
The Commerce Department reports that economic growth cooled in the second quarter of this year. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.5% from April through June, and that was lower than expected, dropping from 2.1% in the first quarter. But it's not because Americans weren't spending. Consumer spending accelerated to 3.2% growth, up from 0.5% in quarter one. Some economists point to a surge in imports, particularly AI-related technology. Economists will be watching whether this second-quarter cooldown points to a broader trend.
Meantime, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly by 9,000, while layoffs remain historically low.
For World, I'm Benjamin Eicher.